


Free, at last

by lunaemoth



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Order 66, Chancellor Amidala, F/M, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 20:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaemoth/pseuds/lunaemoth
Summary: Vice-Chancellor Palpatine is dead, at last.Chancellor Amidala and Maul are free.





	Free, at last

**Author's Note:**

> I'm French, and this isn't beta-ed. Grammar corrections are welcome in comments as long as you're nice about it.

Chancellor Amidala was reading the official report when Maul stepped inside her office. He walked around her desk and kneeled beside her.

“Did you see the body?” she asked, her painted face expressionless.

“It’s him. He’s really dead.”

She closed her eyes and pressed her palms to the desk. Sidious was dead. Finally. The relief left her dizzy.

She felt a warm weight on her thigh, and she lowered a hand on Maul’s head, gently caressing the soft sensitive skin around his horns. The Zabrak hummed in pleasure and rubbed his nose on the velvet of her dress.

“Are you sure I can’t kill Skywalker, now? He has done his part now that he killed Sidious. We don’t need him anymore,” Maul muttered mulishly.

Padmé stared thoughtfully at the list of names on her datapad. Yoda, Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin and Kit Fisto had all died in the attempt to capture Darth Sidious. There were only two survivors. Mace Windu’s health was noted critical, and Anakin Skywalker was heavily wounded. It’s true that those two could probably be dealt with easily enough… and then there would be no more witnesses, she could twist the story however she wanted. It was tempting... She closed her eyes and shook her head. No, this was not her way.

“He raped you,” Maul pointed out, feeling her hesitation and trying to sway her to his side.

Padmé’s lips pursed in distaste, and she pushed him away. “I told you to stop with this. Palpatine forced me to sleep with the Jedi so he could manipulate him, just like us. This wasn’t Anakin’s fault. As soon as he understood, he confronted Sidious, and now we are free. Finally.” She straightened in her seat, reminding herself as much as Maul of the truth. “Do not try to manipulate me like Sidious or I’ll do without you, Maul,” she warned him. “I have suffered years of this. I’ll not tolerate it one minute more.”

Maul bowed his head low. “I’m sorry. I’m just—”

“Jealous, and I do not care for it. You know this.”

“Forgive me, my Queen.”

Padmé huffed and shook her head, but she didn’t protest when he crawled closer, and she allowed him to curl against her side. Maul craved attention and affection like she craved freedom and honesty.

Both of them were deeply marked by years of life under Palpatine’s rule, but they had had each other. Palpatine had always underestimated Padmé due to her lack of Force sensitivity. She had only been an Apprentice Legislator when he had noticed her and predicted she would go far. He had manipulated her from childhood so she would be his pawn on the political spectrum. He hadn’t seen her as a threat and believed she would always be submitted to his will and his Force suggestions.

When he wanted to remind her of her place, Palpatine sent Maul to watch her and show her she was under supervision. He hadn’t realized she was taming his feral apprentice, a few kind words and gestures after another, just like he hadn’t thought that she would manage to turn Anakin against him. She was just a pretty little doll he used as a puppet… until now.

Padmé’s comm beeped.

“Your Highness,” Sabé said, “Marshall Commander Cody from the 212th for you.”

Padmé looked down at Maul. He sat cross-legged under her desk to not be seen by the holoprojector, but his head stayed on her knee, eyes closed as he listened.

“I’ll see him.”

Commander Cody saluted sharply as he appeared above the holoprojector on the side of her desk. “Your Excellency.”

“Commander. Order 66?”

“Has failed, your Excellency. Every corps reported that the Jedi have been put to safety. The few soldiers who weren’t unchipped yet have been put into isolation until the procedure can be done.”

“Excellent. General Grievous?”

“Killed by General Kenobi a few hours before, your Excellency.”

Padmé allowed herself one of her rare public smiles. “Please, relay to General Kenobi my congratulations for this success, Commander.”

“I will, Ma’am. Utapau has been cleaned. What are your orders?”

“With the defeat of every general of the Separatist Army, we believe peace is in reach, Commander, but we have information that the Separatist leaders have gathered on Mustafar. Besiege the planet. Do not attack. We shall wait for their surrender.” Again, it was tempting to just wipe them out, like Sidious had planned, but… no, this was not her way.  

“Yes, your Excellency.” Cody saluted. He hesitated and removed his helmet. “If I may, Ma’am?”

“I’m listening, Commander.”

“Once the war is over… what will happen to us?”

“Every clone will have full citizenship and pay by tomorrow, Commander. You and yours will be welcome to stay at the service of the Republic or leave to choose your own life.”

“Can you really promise that, Ma’am?”

Maul’s hand tightened around Padmé’s ankle. The Zabrak, fluttering between a Grayer path (due to Padmé’s insistence she would not tolerate a Sith in her presence anymore) and the Dark Side, was ready to jump into the nearest ship to skewer the man who was questioning her.

“There have been enough victims to this war, Commander. I assure you, it might be the last thing I’ll do, but I’ll ensure that there are no more and that all those who fought will find peace.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Cody said softly.

She was expecting him to cut the communication when he turned to the side with a surprised expression.

“General, how did you—”

“This is ridiculous, Cody,” Obi-Wan Kenobi grumbled as he appeared on projection. “Do you really think you can keep me in my rooms like a misbehaving padawan?” He looked at Padmé with his hands on his hips. “Chancellor Amidala, I’d say I’m happy to see you if I hadn’t heard that your Vice-Chancellor was a Sith Master who killed half of the High Council and apparently tried to have all Jedi murdered by our own troops… which didn’t happen only because you warned the Clone Commanders in advance.”

“Good evening to you too, Master Kenobi,” Padmé replied with a soft smile. She had always been rather fond of this Jedi, one of the first she had ever met and one of the funniest and kindest, certainly. Unfortunately, Maul didn't share her fondness. His hand twitched on her ankle. He was still haunted by his brush with death on Theed and the weeks he had spent recovering from the heavy wound to his stomach, scorned by his Master and only visited by Padmé, despite her anger at him for going after the Jedi. He would have died, and so would have Master Jinn, if she hadn't interrupted the fight. Her support during Maul's recovery had been the tipping point, the moment when his loyalty had shifted to her.  

“Don’t you think you have some explaining to do?” Obi-Wan demanded.

“My official statement will be publicly released tomorrow.”

“I don’t—” Obi-Wan made an exasperated hand gesture. He visibly reined in his frustration but leaned forward with worry and tried again: “Padmé, please. Tell me, what’s going on?”

She hadn’t expected him to appeal to her with such open vulnerability. The squeeze on her ankle ended in a caress as Maul felt her struggle.

“I’m sorry, Master Kenobi. Those years have been hard enough. I can not go through them again, even for you. You’ll understand tomorrow.” She cut the call, pushed back her chair and stood up.

Maul following, she walked to the window and stared at the airspeeders moving on the horizon, like any other day on Coruscant. Her life was on a tipping point. Soon, she would be free, and yet life was just moving on for everyone else. This was grounding, somehow. She was but a small speck of dust among the infinity of space.

Maul embraced her, his arms circling her waist and the gold sash she wore. His chin rested on her shoulder, and she caressed his bald head distractedly.

“Is everything ready?”

“Ready to leave at your command,” he promised, kissing her slender wrist.

She hummed in satisfaction but broke his hold and turned around to meet his eyes. He held her stare, knowing what she wanted. His iris had lost the yellow glow of the Sith for a more natural honey brown tint. It was a lovely color, much better than the sickly yellow.  

She smiled in pleasure and cupped his face, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. “Do you remember our promise?”

“You’ll stay with me as long as I do not hurt you and fall to the Dark Side again, and I’ll protect you as long as you stay.”

She nodded. “We’re free, Maul.” She raised on tiptoe to kiss him.

 

The next day, when Chancellor Amidala’s diary was published on the holonet, she had disappeared from Coruscant.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea cluttered my brain for a while, but it's a darker AU than I usually prefer, so I just wrote a scene to put it in words and release it here. I hope you appreciated it! :)  
> An idea for a short sequel is still haunting me, but I don't know if I'll write it.
> 
> You can find me at lunaemoth.tumblr.com


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